Chemical Constituents of Propolis from Vietnamese Trigona minor and Their Antiausterity Activity against the PANC-1 Human Pancreatic Cancer Cell Line.

The ethanol extract of propolis from the Vietnamese stingless bee Trigona minor possessed potent preferential cytotoxicity against PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cells in nutrient-deprived medium, with a PC50 value of 14.0 μg/mL. Chemical investigation of this extract led to the isolation of 15 cycloartane-type triterpenoids, including five new compounds (1-5), and a lanostane-type triterpenoid. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of NMR spectroscopic analysis. Among the isolated compounds, 23-hydroxyisomangiferolic acid B (5) and 27-hydroxyisomangiferolic acid (13) exhibited the most potent preferential cytotoxicity against PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cells under nutrition-deprived conditions, with PC50 values of 4.3 and 3.7 μM, respectively.